


New Approach

by ricochet (melas_chole)



Series: New Angles [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Internalized Homophobia, Love Life Meddling, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24561739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melas_chole/pseuds/ricochet
Summary: Natasha tries to get Steve to date.They have been playing this game for so long now.She decides that maybe it is time for a new approach.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov
Series: New Angles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776277
Kudos: 15





	New Approach

“What about Cathrine from R&D?” Natasha suggested, pushing the elevator button once they reached it. “You seem pretty close.”

Close? Steve frowned. “What gave you that impression?”

With a ping the elevator doors opened in front of them.

“You call her Cathrine, for one.” The assassin shrugged and Steve followed her into the elevator, doubt still wrinkling his brow. 

Standing professionally next to each other to face the closing doors, Steve clasped his wrists before him. “So according to that logic I should be dating anyone I am on a first name basis with?” His voice was even, as if it was an innocently curious inquired.

That was obviously not what she suggested, as obviously as he was not interested in asking out their colleague from Research & Development. But Natasha wasn’t easily deterred by this.

“You could always ask out the cute girl from the coffee shop.” The young woman — Mimi, she had read on her name tag — positively beamed every time she saw Steve in the small coffee shop, in a way that she certainly didn’t when Natasha and Clint went there without the good Captain.

Natasha kept her eyes trained on the changing numbers of the floors as they were ascending. She still felt Steve’s appalled eyes on her. “I absolutely could not!”

“Why not? Even you must have noticed, she wrote her number on you cup the last time we went there.”

He had noticed. Just as well as he had noticed the young woman’s interest. He wasn’t as unperceptive as his teammates sometimes made him out to be. And he respected her for her boldness, something he hardly had. But that didn’t change the facts.

“You realize that you’re suggesting, I ask somebody out, who was probably born in the nineties?!”

She gave him a blank side-glance.

She had to know how old he was. “I trust you to know that I—”

“Were born on July 4th 1918.” She cut him off. Steve had no illusions that she knew more about all of them than anybody strictly cared for.

“I don’t see what is wrong with that.”

He just looked at her. “No, you really don’t, do you?” It was more an observation than it was a question.

“Okay, so nobody born in the nineties.” She noted. “But if we’re going by your birthdate, we’re never going to get anywhere.”

Did they have to get anywhere?

The elevator gave another ping and all Steve could do was follow his colleague through the opened doors out to the top floor.

They quickly found the rooftop exit and, trained as she was, Natasha disabled the security easily enough.  
Steve closed the door behind them and Natasha activated the pick-up signal. All that was left to do now was wait.

They sat down against a wall at the back of the exit, the gravel covering the roof crunching beneath them as they did.

After a while, Steve exhaled which came out more like a sigh. “Nat, why are you so invested in—”

Her red locks bounced when she whipped her head around to look at him. “Because I want you to have nice things in your life, besides work.”

Steve opened his mouth but she held her hand up to stop him.

“Don’t tell me, you do have nice things in your life. I know, you do. I know, you like running and Central Park and watching people and drawing.” And her expression was genuine. “But you’re also not 90.”

For a moment, Steve was addled. “Well, technically—”

“You’re not.” His friend was firm. “You’re not even/hardly 30.”

Steve didn’t know what to say, temporarily lost in his thoughts.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent watched her friend. They had been playing this game for so long.  
Maybe it was time for a new move.

“What about Harris from the reception?”

“What?!” Steve’s eyes shot up to the woman next to him. He was a man! Panic cursed ice-cold through his veins. Had she really asked him whether he wanted to date another man?!

“Harris from the reception.” She repeated calmly. “He is single and I’m certain, he would say yes, if you asked him out for a drink.”  
Her expression was casual, yet he felt like she was scrutinizing him. 

Steve felt hot. Far too hot in his clothes. At the same time he was still frozen. 

What about him would even make her think that it was okay to ask him something like this? That he would want her to? That he was…like that?

He knew, he needed to say something. Anything that would cast any suspicion from him.

He tried to laugh. But the snort he huffed managed to sound both more derisive and precarious than he had meant it to, startling even him.

Steve saw her squint her eyes and he felt uneasy under her gaze.  
He hated when she did that, when she looked at people as if she could read them like an open book, as if she could see more than they consciously meant to disclose. Making you constantly afraid that you would give away too much.

“I do _not_ want to ask Harris out for a drink!” He told her firmly, an echo of ‘Have I made myself understood?!’ resonating in his voice.  
He got up to his feet, crossing his arms in front of his chest, clearly projecting that for him this conversation was over.

“Noted.” She acknowledged duly.

Everything about his reaction was way too defensive. 

In the agent’s experience this usually meant one of two things.

She was willing to cut him some slack with the whole growing up in the 30s thing but he had been living in the 21st century for over two years now. She knew that he spent a lot of time catching up with everything that had changed since then and usually embraced everything that was progressive and liberal. It aligned with his core values. He fought so that everyone could just be.

Natasha knew that he was aware of her still watching him and she saw his shoulders sag with the smaller relief when they heard the sound of an approaching Quinjet.

They didn’t speak much on the flight back.

But it gave her to think.


End file.
